House panel criticises delay in framing data protection rules

THE DPDP ACT PROVIDES THE FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTING INDIVIDUALS' PERSONAL DATA

The parliamentary standing committee on communications and information technology has pulled up the IT ministry in a report over the delays in drafting rules under the contentious Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, and releasing a draft of the Digital India Bill.

Notified in August last year, the DPDP Act provides the framework for protecting individuals' personal data and for processing it for lawful purposes after the Supreme Court reaffirmed right to privacy as a fundamental right for Indian citizens in 2017. 

Experts have voiced concerns over exemptions for government entities that thus give the government sweeping surveillance powers, the lack of independence of the Data Protection Board, and amendments to the Right to Information Act which render it powerless.